Collier led Denver East to the state 5A title over Fossil Ridge, after averaging 23.4 points, 4.3 rebounds, 3.7 assists and 3.5 steals on the season.

The Colorado-bound guard is the fourth boys basketball player from the state to be honored, following ThunderRidge’s Matt Bouldin (2006), Arapahoe’s Levi Knutson (2007) and Lewis-Palmer’s Josh Scott (2012).

Collier was also honored as the Denver Post Mr. Basketball twice, winning in 2013 and 2014. He is also a four-time All-Colorado selection, making every team since he entered high school.

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East guard Dominique Collier (24) worked against Ranch defender Keith Coleman (20) in the first half. The DenverEast High School boy’s basketball team defeated Highlands Ranch 64-44 in a 5A quarterfinal playoff game Friday night, March 7, 2014 in Denver. (Karl Gehring, The Denver Post)

Denver East guard Dominique Collier was named the Gatorade Colorado boys basketball player of the year Thursday.

Collier led East to the 5A state title, beating Fossil Ridge 70-49. He averaged 23.7 points, 3.7 assists and 3.5 steals for the Angels this season. He’s a two-time Denver Post All-Colorado team selection.

Collier will play at Colorado next season.

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A couple of Division I-bound guards have been posting extraordinary numbers in recent weeks.

Denver East guard Dominique Collier is averaging 35.2 points since forward Ronnie Harrell went down with an injury on Jan. 7. In that span, East has a 4-1 record with its only loss to highly rated Northside Christian Academy from Charlotte, N.C.

Collier, who will play at Colorado next year, is shooting 49 percent from the field during that span, including 24-of-54 from beyond the 3-point line.

About 70 miles south along Interstate 25, Cheyenne Mountain’s Ghassan Nehme has also been racking up points at a torrid pace. Since moving from shooting guard to point guard two weeks ago, the Montana State-bound senior is averaging 32.2 points over the six-game span since Jan. 14. This includes a 43-point performance against Lewis-Palmer on Jan. 17 and a 39-point game versus Vista Ridge on Jan. 28.

“When he gets going he’s very good,” Cheyenne Mountain coach J’on St. Clair said. “… With the ball in his hands, he’s a rhythm guy. He doesn’t have to be a catch-and-shoot guy.”

Cheyenne Mountain has a 4-2 record since the move.

On the year, Nehme is averaging 27 points, tops in Class 4A and second-best in all classifications. Collier is averaging 24.6, best in Class 5A and fifth overall. Akron’s Brady Baer is leading all scorers with an average of 31.1 points.

East is 13-3 on the year and ranked No. 2 in the Class 5A Colorado Associated Press Media Poll for boys basketball. Cheyenne Mountain is 10-4 on the season and No. 11 in the Class 4A poll.

A screenshot of Dominique Collier and other Denver East student-athletes in the Your Can Play video with the Denver Nuggets. (Screenshot)

Kenneth Faried, Randy Foye and Quincy Miller joined a number of student-athletes from Denver East, including basketball players Michelle Cox and Dominique Collier, to produce a video for the You Can Play project.

The video is the second in a series that promotes support for LGBT athletes, by the You Can Play project and the Colorado High School Activities Association’s “You Can Play, Colorado!” initiative.

“As a Colorado high school graduate, I know that this effort between Colorado’s teams and high school students provides support for athletes based on ability and determination, not on race, religion or sexual orientation or gender identity,” You Can Play executive director Wade David said in a release.

Josh Perkins, who transferred from Regis Jesuit to Huntington Prep, also made the list.

The final team, to be announced during the McDonald’s All American Games Selection Show on ESPNU at 4 p.m. Jan. 29, will consist of 24 boys and 24 girls. The game will take place April 2 at the United Center in Chicago.

The Colorado Chaos Basketball Club will hold its Rocky Mountain Fall Showcase for the tenth-consecutive year this October.

The event, which routinely draws the best club teams and players in the region, will be Oct. 6 at Legend High School. It will feature five games: freshmen (11 a.m.), sophomores (1 p.m.), juniors (3 p.m.), seniors (5 p.m.) and Top Twenty (7 p.m.).

The list of players expected to participate is staggering — and amounts to a virtual pool of players who will likely be considered for The Show next spring.

Chatfield won the Red Bull Game Breakers 7-on-7 title over the weekend, claiming one of the top football events of the summer.

The Chargers came out of the losers bracket and then beat Denver South twice — both times, 14-13 — on Saturday to win the championship. Both schools received invites to the 7-on-7 national finals in Dallas next month.

“Our team is different in that there is no one star player, with in through teamwork,” coach Bret McGatlin said in a release. “Going to Dallas will build our confidence.”

They’re looked to as the best talent in Colorado’s loaded boys basketball class of 2014: Dominique Collier and Josh Perkins, two rising sophomores who Monday were selected to The Show, the state’s annual all-star game.

It’s just the latest chapter in what should be a fantastic book by the time both graduate. By then, both Collier and Perkins will have become national Division I recruits, glaring exceptions to the “Colorado doesn’t produce Division I players” stereotype.

Neil Devlin, originally from the Philadelphia area, has covered high school sports in Colorado for more than 30 years, writing about the people, athletes and events that encompass the Rocky Mountain prep sports world.